5 Tips for Dealing with Cravings While on Your Period

As if it isn’t hard enough to combat cravings, eat healthy and find time to exercise regularly, once a month women face the seemingly insurmountable challenge of getting through their period without giving into temptation. Along with the irritability, cramps, bloating and fatigue that come hand-in-hand with Mother Nature’s visit, cravings for sugar, simple carbohydrates, and other oh-so-good, but not-so-healthy treats hit full force.

cravings on your periodIf you have intense cravings during your period, you’re not just giving yourself an excuse to nibble on forbidden foods. There are scientific reasons that explain why your body craves certain foods during your menstrual cycle. During this time, your brain experiences a decrease in serotonin, a brain chemical that’s responsible for a whole host of things including your mood. Your brain, unable to operate as efficiently with a smaller amount of serotonin, sends signals – cravings – for foods that boost serotonin levels. Such foods include sweets, chips, muffins and other comfort foods.

How to Curb Cravings during Your Menstrual Cycle

Fortunately, there are things you can do to reduce cravings during this time and stay on track. These tips also work when you’re not on your period. So, next time you get a craving, combat it with one or more of the following:

Consume more complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates and foods rich in fiber – whole grains, legumes, fruits and some starchy vegetables – take longer for your body to break down and use. This means that you stay full longer and experience fewer cravings. While you’re satisfied and full, your stomach sends messages to your brain that no more food is needed.
Eat foods rich in protein. Foods that contain a great deal of protein also work as an appetite suppressant for the same reason as complex carbohydrates. In fact, it takes your body even longer to break down proteins. Protein also helps regulate your sugar levels, which stops cravings. To add protein to your diet, choose from healthy options such as chicken, turkey, fish and peanut butter.
Eat smaller, more frequent meals. Bottom line, do not allow yourself to become hungry while you’re on your period. Satisfy cravings by eating six small meals instead of three large ones. Be sure to choose healthy options though.
Spend some time exercising or doing another physical activity that you enjoy. Physical activity boosts levels of dopamine in the brain, a feel-good chemical that works alongside serotonin to regulate your mood. So, whenever you start feeling down, don’t reach for a snack, get physical instead. Exercise also reduces cramps.
Think about something else. Sounds pretty simple, huh? Well, it is. When you have a craving, your brain automatically pictures the item you’re craving. You start to remember the taste, the feel, the texture of the food you want. If you allow yourself to keep thinking about it, you will likely give in to temptation. Instead, think about something else that you love, like the beach. Picture it – the sights, the sounds, the smells, the way the sand feels between your toes – and your brain will no longer be able to concentrate on the craving.
Combating cravings during that time of the month is a constant struggle. However, the more successful you are at fighting off cravings, the easier it will become for you to turn down unhealthy foods. If you slip up now and then, don’t beat yourself up. Simply put the experience behind you and look ahead. More cravings will come, and when they do, you will be ready for them.

6 Essential Habits for Losing Weight and Keeping it Off

Losing weight is really difficult to start with, but on top of that we all want to keep the weight off for good. There are healthy habits you can adopt NOW in order to increase your chances of keeping the weight off long term. Here are 6 tips that can help.

1. Don’t call what you’re doing a “diet.” This will set you up for failure immediately. Diets are quick, short term solutions for weight loss that usually are not permanent. If you are looking for permanent, long term weight loss, you need to think about it as a lifestyle change. Diets aren’t bad; they can help kick your metabolism into gear so that you can lose weight more easily. But a diet isn’t going to give you long-term success; changes in your lifestyle and food choices will.

2. Set weight loss goals. Goals are one of the most important parts of the weight loss process. The problem is, too many people say “I want to lose x number of pounds.” That is great but sometimes it’s not enough in terms of goal setting. Instead, start making your lifestyle changes gradually and make several mini-goals at a time. Sure, you can say that you want to lose 100 lbs, but it may be easier to stay motivated if you say you want to lose 10 pounds in the next 6 weeks or that you want to be able to walk a mile in addition to losing weight.

3. Reward yourself. …but please don’t make the mistake of rewarding yourself with food. If you can create rewards that are encouraging, but don’t involve messing up your lifestyle changes, they can be really good motivators. Effective rewards are desirable, timely, and contingent on meeting a particular goal. Use several smaller rewards for smaller goals, too. For example, if you went through a month of walking for 30 minutes every day, you can reward yourself with a haircut or a trip to the spa.

4. Figure out why you gained weight in the first place. This is one of the hardest parts of maintaining long-term weight loss, but you do have to do some self evaluation. Why did you start overeating in the first place? What happened that made you want to overeat? Was there a life event, were you struggling with a hormonal imbalance like PMS or a chemical imbalance that caused mood issues? What happened to make you start neglecting your diet? Once you figure that out, you need to take steps that help you deal with those issues effectively later on. This will help you prevent similar issues in the future.

5. Understand portion sizes. If you understand how portion sizes are supposed to work, you’re going to be better off. We have an issue in the United States where we fill our plates to overflowing, and you really can’t do this. Even healthy foods can be bad if your portions are too big. A good rule to go by is the “fist rule.” A serving of healthy food is about the size of your fist; the smaller you are the smaller your fist is, and the smaller your portions will be. Keeping a food diary can help control your potions too.

6. Follow the 80/20 rule. You don’t have to be perfect all of the time, trust me. The key is balance and moderation. It’s going to take a lot of effort to maintain this lifestyle, so it’s okay to slack every once in awhile. If you live by healthy habits 80% of the time, slacking a little for the other 20% is okay (as long as you don’t go absolutely crazy and ruin what you did all week). Give yourself a treat on the weekend after being “good” all week.

THIS IS YOUR WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY – WHAT’S COOKING?

Healthy weight loss is the product of small, significant changes over an extended length of time – one of which is learning to cook! However, you can’t cut corners: if you’re going to cook, work from scratch and know the nutritional content of your meals. Here are some kitchen concepts that aren’t going to help you lose weight.

Tinned soup. That tin of wholesome-looking soup might appear to be as good as the homemade alternative, but its nutrition label probably tells a different story. Many brands are high in sodium, trans fats, and additives such as monosodium glutamate, which has been shown to have adverse health effects

Pre-made pasta sauces. Jars of pre-made pasta sauce are full of sodium, which can cause bloating and fluid retention and lead to high blood pressure. Pasta sauce is quick and cheap to make yourself, and it can contain up to one-fiftieth the amount of sodium than a jar of red gloop off the supermarket shelf does!

Filled pasta. Fillings that are heavy and dairy-based, such as three cheese, can have high levels of saturated fat—some brands contain up to 7 g of saturated fat in just one serve. Although pasta is a healthy choice, make sure you don’t cancel out its benefits by eating varieties that come laden with unhealthy ingredients.

Vegetables cooked in butter. Vegetables are best for you when you cook them as little as possible.

Although veggies cooked in butter might be tastier than steamed veggies, remember that butter is high in fat and cholesterol, and too much of it could affect your health.

Potatoes. Some may consider them a vegetable, but potatoes are best enjoyed in moderation—they actually have little nutritional value, and are absorbed into the bloodstream even faster than pure sugar due to their high starch levels . Add the large quantities of butter or oil that many use to fry or bake their potatoes, and you literally have a recipe for disaster.

Baked beans. They might be an good source of protein and a quick, easy topping for your morning toast, but tinned baked beans are actually very high in sugar , and a UK study has revealed that some varieties contain up to 45% of the recommended daily intake of salt .

White rice. It’s a staple food for people the world over, but white rice has little nutritional value; it’s a processed grain that’s full of starch, and starch can have the same adverse effects on your body as sugar. A Harvard study shows that eating too much white rice can increase your risk of diabetes.

THE BEST CHEST EXERCISES FOR WEIGHT LOSS

Tension. Tension in the chest causes poor posture and can lead to a sway back, and that’s definitely not the silhouette I’m after! It’s so easy to forget to stretch your chest, but after working out your arms it’s vital that you release the tension in your pectorals. Here are 4 chest and arm stretches that will release your lungs and help you breathe easy:

Behind Head Chest Stretch

Start Position:

Stand with your hands behind your head.

Movement:

Pull your elbows gently back and away from your ears. Hold for several seconds.

Straight Arm Chest Stretch

Start Position:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and place one hand on a wall or post beside you for support.

Movement:

Slowly turn your body away from your outstretched arm until you feel a stretch across your chest. Hold for several seconds, then repeat on the opposite side.

Lying Chest Stretch with Variations

Start Position:

Lie on your back with your knees bent at about 90 degrees and your feet flat on the floor. Bend your arms at 90 degrees, and place them on the floor beside you, with your forearms parallel to your head and your palms facing up.

Movement:

Push your shoulders and forearms into the floor and slowly move your arms in towards your head.

*Tip* You can also perform this stretch with a rolled up towel placed between your shoulder blades, or lying on top of a foam roller.

Lying Front Deltoid Stretch

Start Position:

Sit on the floor with your legs bent at about 90 degrees, your feet flat on the ground, and your hands placed on the floor behind you for support, fingers facing away from your body. Lean back slightly.

Movement:

Keeping your back and arms straight, slowly move your hips forward, away from your hands, until you feel a stretch in your deltoids. Hold for several seconds.

Healthy Diet Eating Plans

Healthy Diet Eating Plans :

When people try to change from a diet loaded with processed, fatty foods to a healthy diet, they quickly become overwhelmed with all the obstacles, whether real or imagined. You may start one diet only to last a few days because it’s too strict or it just becomes difficult to deal with the entire process. Due to our hectic lifestyles most of us are so accustomed to convenience foods, it seems impossible to get back into the swing of planning meals, shopping, buying and preparing healthy food.
When you are transitioning to healthy diet it is to your benefit to arm yourself with a healthy eating plan and a resource for healthy organic produce and products to support your efforts. This is the time when having a healthy diet menu built for you can make all the difference for successfully changing to a healthy diet and lifestyle.
The visionary behind Australia’s Lifestyle Healthy Foods, Frank Aiolo, has a history helping his clients transform their bodies and lifestyles using a clever combination of healthy diet tips, meals, and exercise. When you pair his healthy diet guide with the convenience of the Healthy Lifestyle online organic store, you have a win/win scenario.
Your Healthy Diet Plans :
You start with a 28 Day Nutrition Plan including 7 days of breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon treat, dinner and/or supper menu tailored for you. People find their healthy diet plan is simple to follow, convenient and cost effective. The healthy diet plans include a variety of meal options to follow each day.
You can even pick and choose your favourites and just stick with those menus or try each one. It’s not unusual for people to notice they have more energy and stay energised for a longer period of time within the first 2 days of their healthy diet eating plan.
You’ll also receive a listing of all the products Frank personally tested (and tasted) that you can add into your healthy diet. You’ll find these at Lifestyle Healthy Foods online organic grocery store so you don’t have to make special trips to an offline market.
Healthy Diet for Weight Loss :
When you order one of these healthy diets, you’ll also receive a handy food exchange list to assist your food selections when you want to change up the menu within food groups. If your goal is to follow a healthy diet to lose weight you’ll be delighted to know that each healthy diet menu is based upon a caloric intake that promotes weight loss.
There really isn’t an easier way to get started and stick to a healthy diet. We’ve got it all right here and we’re ready to ship to you today.

Mediterranean Diet Recipes For Weight Loss

The Mediterranean Diet is famous for its many health benefits from lowering the risk of heart disease and Alzheimer’s Disease, to reducing the risk of an unborn child developing asthma. What’s more, the traditional Mediterranean diet has now been recognized as an effective weight loss diet. Read on for meal ideas for the Mediterranean diet and Mediterranean diet recipes. Your waistline and your taste buds will thank you.
These simple Mediterranean Diet recipes are all suitable as main meals. Mediterranean salad recipes have been included as a healthy accompaniment. Alternatively, fresh steamed vegetables would also be great selections for Mediterranean cuisine.
Spinach, Mushroom, Tomato Frittata with Feta Cheese. (Serves 4.)
Many Mediterranean food recipes incorporate plenty of fresh and colorful vegetables. Try substituting your very favorite vegetable and herbs for a more unique and personalized Mediterranean meal.
Ingredients:
1 Tabspn extra virgin olive oil
8 oz, or 3 cups, sliced mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tspn pepper
1/4 tspn salt
1/2 tspn oregano, or any fresh herb you prefer
10 oz, or 1 bag, fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 cup milk, preferably reduced fat or skim
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled, preferably reduced fat
6 eggs
2 tomatoes, sliced
Method:
Add oil to non-stick ovenproof pan, and over a medium heat, cook mushrooms, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and herbs. Stir to prevent sticking for approximately 8 minutes, until all liquid is removed.
Add spinach, cover, cook for about 5 minutes until spinach is just wilted.
Whisk eggs in mixing bowl. Add cheese and eggs to pan containing cooked vegetables and stir gently to mix. Turn heat to low. Place sliced tomato on top and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes, until only slight amount of juice remains.
Place under grill for 3-5 minutes until set.
Slice and serve with salad or steamed fresh seasonal vegetables drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil.
Roasted Mediterranean Style Leg of Lamb With Artichokes. (Serves 10.)
This is a great example of a Mediterranean recipe, featuring such traditional Mediterranean foods as lamb, garlic, and artichokes.
Ingredients:
4lb leg of lamb
1 tspn oregano, chopped finely
1 tspn pepper
2 tspn salt
1 garlic clove, minced
8 oz, or 1 cup of tomato passata
1 cup, or 250 ml, water
9 oz artichoke hearts, tinned, marinated, or frozen
Method:
Heat oven to 325º F.
Rub the combined oregano, pepper and salt into the lamb. Place lamb on rack in shallow baking pan. Bake in oven for 2 1/2 hours.
Remove lamb and baking rack from oven. Drain fat from baking juices and place lamb back in pan without the baking rack.
Combine garlic, passata, and water, and pour over lamb. Place sliced lemon over top of lamb. Place artichokes around lamb in baking dish.
Bake for another 30-60 minutes, basting occasionally with sauce, until meat thermometer reaches 175-180º F.
Serve with salad or roast vegetables, such as potatoes, pumpkin, and sweet potato.
Healthy Greek Salad. (Serves 4.)
Ingredients:
2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped or sliced
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 Spanish onion
4 teaspn fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspn oregano
salt and pepper as desired
8 pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
1 cup feta cheese, reduced fat, crumbled
Method:
Combine cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion in appropriately sized salad bowl.
Combine lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad.
Place feta cheese and olives decoratively on top.
Traditional Tabbouleh (Serves 4 as an accompaniment.)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup bulgur
1 onion, finely chopped
5 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspns extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt if required
Method:
Add boiling water to bulgur in small bowl. Mix, then cover. Stand for about 60 minutes. Drain off any leftover water.
Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add softened bulgur and mix well.
Conclusion.
You may have noticed that these Mediterranean Diet recipes use extra virgin olive oil. The reason? Extra virgin olive oil is made from the very first pressing of the olives, and as a consequence contains the very highest levels of anti-oxidants. The Mediterranean Diet is famous for being a rich source of anti-oxidants, which are vital for good health and mopping up dangerous free radicals.

Weight Loss Recipes

Planning on losing weight but don’t know where to start? Don’t sweat it! The easiest way to start losing weight is by improving your diet. Switching to eating healthier foods can be the key to your success. And remember, just because it’s called diet food doesn’t mean it tastes bad. That’s a common misconception that needs to be corrected.

There are lots of weight loss recipes out there that are both filling and tasty. Keep in mind that healthy foods are more common in your diet than you might think. Take for example this simple tuna salad:

tuna salad

Tuna Salad Recipe:

Tuna, low-fat dressing (you can make this yourself), onions, chili (optional), celery.

Mix together in a bowl and enjoy!

Sometimes, it’s the things like dressings that we add to our food that make them unhealthy. If you cut down on fat, salt and sugar and other bad stuff, then you’d have a healthier diet.

At other times, it’s the way we cook food that could make it low-fat. Instead of frying chicken, why not try grilling it like this easy grilled chicken recipe.

Grilled Chicken Breast Recipe:

Cook boneless chicken on a grill sprayed or brushed with vegetable oil. On a small bowl, mix together honey, lemon, soy sauce, garlic and onions. Brush the mixture on the chicken breast during the last two minutes of cooking. Remove the chicken from the grill, serve and enjoy!

This grilled chicken is a lot healthier than chicken covered in flour, fried, and topped with gravy. There are other recipes like this one on the internet. They’re not only tasty, but they are actually food that you eat regularly—just prepared or cooked in a healthier way.

Fasting Tips for Weight Loss

Fasting--or consuming nothing but water for a specific period of time--seems a quick and easy way to drop a few pounds quickly. Most major health organizations, including the American Heart Association, do not recommend taking drastic measure to lose weight. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics warns that fasting for any period of time will slow down your metabolism and when you return to eating regular food, your body will be tempted to store every calorie as fat to store up for the next fasting event. Despite the problems associated with fasting, a short fast--lasting one to three days--may help you break from eating poor-quality processed food and fast food and help you embark on a healthy weight-loss regimen that includes healthy foods and increased physical activity. If you are committed to a fast for weight loss, use the following tips to make it a safe process.
Some People Should Avoid Fasting
Certain people should not attempt a fast for any period of time. Pregnant and nursing women, children and the elderly have nutritional needs that must be met. People who have certain illnesses or on certain medications also should check with their doctor before attempting a fast.

Reduce Physical Activity
One reason fasts are not recommended for weight loss is that they rob you of energy. Increased physical activity is usually recommended to spur weight loss, but if you are fasting you should lie low. You may find yourself becoming exhausted during exercise or unable to complete a workout with good form, potentially causing injury. Your body will also dip into lean muscle for energy.
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Minimize Your Expectations
After a few days of fasting, you will most likely lose weight. Do not expect the weight loss to last for the long run, however. You have lost significant water weight that will return when you begin to eat again. You may have trouble adhering to a complete fast and end up binging because of extreme hunger. If you decide to fast for a few days, limit your social functions so that you are not exposed to tempting meals.
Hydrate
While fasting, be sure to keep drinking plenty of water or herbal teas. Do not allow yourself to become dehydrated because that may lead to health problems.
Side Effects
Be prepared to suffer side effects of your fast. If you are giving up caffeine, alcohol and excessive amounts of sugar, you may experience headaches. Hunger can cause you to feel nauseated and dizzy.
Break Slowly
Following your fast, introduce foods gradually as recommended by the Healing Daily website. Instead of shocking your system with a huge, fatty meal, begin by eating light meals that contain whole foods like fresh produce and lean meats. Your digestive system needs time to adjust to going back to working full-time.
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Holiday Weight Loss Secret: A Red Plate?

If you’re looking for a way to fight the inevitable holiday bulge, the treadmill may not be your only ally. Mindless snacking is a problem that, at some point or another, has afflicted even the best of us. Suddenly, “one more” chip or cookie turns into throwing the empty bag in the trash.
But there may a new, and surprisingly easy, way to curb your overeating tendencies.
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According to a new study, people cut back on their food intake when it is placed on a red plate versus a white or blue one.
The study departs from sizable bodies of evidence that show fast-food restaurants use the color red so often in their logos because the color actually promotes appetite. Researchers from the University of Basel’s Department of Social and Economic Psychology gave test subjects the option to snack on pretzels while they filled out questionnaires. Depending on the experimental condition, the pretzel plate was white, blue, or red. Overwhelmingly, the subjects who were offered pretzels on the red plate ate the fewest number of them.

The researchers also had participants drink out of red or blue cups as part of the experiment. Red cups were preferred over blue cups.“In line with our hypothesis, participants drank less from a red labeled cup than from a blue labeled cup (Study 1), and ate less snack food from a red plate than from a blue or white plate (Study 2),” the team wrote. “The results suggest that red functions as a subtle stop signal that works outside of focused awareness and thereby reduces incidental food and drink intake.”
Much like the responses we’ve been conditioned to observe since childhood — yielding to stop signs, red lights, and, well, yield signs — the team’s findings suggest eating off a red plate induces the same compulsions. A separate 2011 study found that monkeys behaved more submissively when experimenters delivered food while wearing a red cap, while blue and green caps had no effect. The findings led Dartmouth researcher and neuroscientist Jerald D. Kralik to link the color red to evolutionary signs of danger, or “No.”

“The similarity of our results with those in humans suggests that avoiding red or acting submissively in its presence may stem from an inherited psychological predisposition,” he said in a press release. Given how social humans and monkeys both are, seeing redness in others’ skin or knowing which foods are safe to eat lets scientists “see that color may have a deeper and wider-ranging influence on us than we have previously thought.”
Conflicting data has less science behind it for why red induces appetite. Often, experts will point to the bevy of fast-food logos that employ red in some capacity: Burger King, McDonald’s, KFC, Tim Horton’s, Wendy’s, Domino’s Pizza, Chik-Fil-A, Pizza Hut, Sonic, Dairy Queen, Arby’s, In-N-Out, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s — the list goes on. And the interpretations profess the same one-two punch. The color yellow signals quickness while red makes you hungry — the perfect combination for restaurants that want the most customers in the least amount of time.

What could ultimately affect a person’s cravings is the location in which eating takes place. Out and about, the sensation of hunger may be heightened due to being in an aroused state. This would explain the fast-food logo pattern. Meanwhile, at home, in more of a resting state, the color red resumes its role as an avoidance motivator, making snacking seem less appealing.

Using Meditation to Promote Weight Loss

Every day it seems, more research comes out about the widespread benefits of meditation, from helping to manage chronic pain to its ability to help us naturally deal with and reduce stress. Much as meditation helps you calm your mind to promote tranquility and peace, it can also be used to help you combat cravings and focus on your weight loss goals. If you’ve tried everything and you still have stubborn weight that refuses to drop off — or you want an all-natural and safe approach with absolutely no risk of side effects or interactions — it may be time to consider meditation.

Woman Doing Yoga


How It Works

By practicing daily meditation, you can enjoy a greater sense of individual, inner focus and help both your mind and body recover from the constant stress of daily life. Meditation will most likely be effective for you if you’re an emotional eater, who eats not out of hunger but boredom, anxiety, stress, anger or just to fill some type of void. This void could be from fear, an argument you had with someone you love, disappointment or bad news or just about anything that brings out powerful emotions.

What Science Has to Say

A number of studies into the effects of meditation on weight loss efforts have been conducted, some very recently. If you’re the type of person to hold back until you’re sure something is real and proven, here’s what you need to know:

A team of researchers from UC San Francisco found that meditation can help people control dietary habits to lose weight. This small-scale study took a group of overweight woman and put them into two groups: both groups received basic diet and exercise education but neither group was assigned to a diet. The experimental group of women receive meditation and mindful eating sessions once a week, which taught them to experience the sensory experience of eating during each moment. The results of this study were successful, showing that these women actually maintained their weight  and experienced reductions in in cortisol levels, compared to the control group, which gained weight.
A study conducted at Indiana State University discovered that meditation can also help combat binge eating. People in this study who used meditation were better at moderating their emotions under stress to eat less.
Past studies on brain scans show that meditation actually produces changes in the brain associated with bodily sensations, particularly those related to cravings and hunger.
How to Use Meditation for Weight Loss

There are a number of ways you can easily incorporate a meditative practice into your weight loss efforts.

Breathing Exercise
One option is simply going through a quick breathing exercise whenever you’re about to snack. Clear your head by counting your breaths to five, then ask yourself, “Am I really hungry or is there some other reason I’m about to eat?” This will help you build good habits and eventually eating will become a conscious choice instead of some thoughtless habit you turn to.

Guided Meditation
Guided meditation is another option that has helped many people tap into their natural inner resources to overcome bad habits. A guided meditation for weight loss program may include not only a guided meditation — which can be thought of as meditation with a guide — but affirmations, subliminal affirmations and instructions.

Mindful Eating
Finally, another technique you can try is mindful eating, which was described briefly in terms of the study mentioned above. Mindful eating training teaches you to focus on every moment of the experience of eating and often includes instructions to stop eating as soon as the food stops tasting fantastic. This mindful eating can help you prevent overeating and combat comfort eating by letting you notice the moment you are actually full and learn to pay attention to how you feel while you eat.

While meditation won’t work for everyone — after all, what can? — it may be a good option for you if you find you succumb to emotional eating, binge eating or overeating when your emotions run high. Meditation has absolutely no side effects or drug interactions to worry about, which can’t be said of herbal supplements or prescription medications, and it’s safe and easy to use for people of all ages. If you want to boost your weight loss efforts, try using one of these techniques today.

8 ESSENTIAL FAT LOSS HORMONES

Many people don’t realize that our bodies actually produce many secret weight loss weapons all on their own, and when properly used, they are a major key to success with fat reduction. Let’s take a look at 8 very important hormones related to fat loss, and how each and every one of them play crucial role’s not only within out day to day lives, but also within weight loss in one way or another.

Ghrelin
Ghrelin is that little person inside of your stomach that controls the conscious thought of hunger. This fat hormone is produced by your stomach and works alongside your brain to signal your body when you’re hungry. A big shocker, and something that many of us were unaware of until now, is that limiting your calorie intake, in efforts to shed a few pounds, causes an increase in this fat hormone. Studies have shown that even after up to one year of dieters using a reduced calorie diet, levels of ghrelin steadily stayed higher than those who didn’t follow this weight loss method. So when we boil it all down, it appears as if your body cannot and will not adapt to eating less as a means to a new lifestyle. You will never be able to trick that little ghrelin gremlin to stop sending hunger signals to the brain. Instead, to maintain a great physique, you can partake in a few intense exercise sessions per week to help decrease ghrelin levels. Since this fat hormone is a key factor to fat reduction, you may want to stick to exercise rather than skipping out on important meals.

Leptin
Leptin the hormone also known as adipokine, is released solely from the fat cells in your body. This wonderful hormone interacts with your brain and promotes less hunger, and an overall heightened calorie burn. In order to heighten leptin sensitivity, you must ensure adequate sleep and an antioxidant rich diet loaded with berries, and red and green vegetables. As you lose weight, your leptin levels will become enhanced, causing more momentum and sensitivity. As you continue to lose weight and continue down a healthier path to success, leptin will become even more effective within your body.

Adiponectin
Adiponectin is yet another adipokine hormone, but unlike leptin, as you become thinner, your fat cells will release more adiponectin. This hormone better enables the muscles in your body to speed up the production of body fat being broken down, turns carbohydrates into energy, boosts your metabolism, and curbs appetite. Maximize your adiponectin levels by replacing carbohydrates with monounsaturated fats such as; olives and avocados, also moving around more during the day (get up from your desk at least hourly to take a quick stroll around the office.

Insulin
Insulin plays a key role during recovery periods after exercising, muscle building, and maintaining blood sugar levels. Insulin does however have it’s nasty down side. When your body’s carbohydrate intakes are high, insulin has free rein inside your body, it can slow or even completely stop the burn and breakdown of stored fats. As you may not have known, the link between carbohydrates and insulin is extremely strong.

Let’s look at it this way, the more carbohydrates you ingest into your body, the higher the levels of insulin being released into the body. In order to keep your insulin levels under control, try and work toward getting the majority of your daily carbohydrates from your fruits and vegetables.

Glucagon
The hormone glucagon is on the opposite side of the spectrum from insulin. As we already know, insulin is involved in the storage of carbohydrates and building up fat. Glucagon’s job is to release stored carbohydrates and fats into the body so they can be better used for energy purposes. Looking to maximize this wonder hormone? The best way to maximize your body’s glucagon release is to go for a low carbohydrate, protein rich, diet.

Cholecystokinin
Cholecystokinin, also known as CCK is a hormone which is released from cells found inside of the intestine when you eat fats or protein. CCK has the ability to communicate with your nervous system and slow the overall rate of digestion. CCK creates that sought after feeling of being fuller for longer. In order to take advantage of this hormone, you must make sure you have a sufficient amount of fats and protein in each and every meal throughout your day.

Epinephrine
This fight or flight hormone, takes charge of the burning of fat and is released into the body as means of energy. A great attribute that epinephrine can offer, is it’s proven success with suppressing appetite for periods of time. Regular exercise is recommended to really get the epinephrine kick started in your body.

Growth Hormone
Also known as “the fountain of youth”, this powerful hormone helps with total body fat reduction. The growth hormone collaborates with the body’s fat cells and persuades them to first break down, then ultimately burn fats that have been stored for energy. It is 100 percent possible to increase your body’s levels of growth hormone through a healthy balance of intense intervals of exercise and regular sleep.

Now that we have taken a look at how we can aid in weight loss from inside the body, it becomes far more obvious that our hormones play a huge factor in the body fat burning and gaining process. All and all, we must first become familiar with our insides before we can become successful on the outside.

5 WEIGHT LOSS TIPS YOU'VE NEVER HEARD BEFORE

If you’ve been trying to lose weight for a while, chances are you’ve waded through the diet plans and gruelling exercise regimes for years. You’ve run yourself into the ground over and over but you’re still not seeing results! Here are some tips to help you stop working so hard, and start working smart:

 1. If you're strength training for your upper body, make sure you use equipment with thick handles. To effectively work your upper body muscles and get better results faster, you need to have a strong grip, which means having strong wrists, fingers, thumbs and forearms. Working with thick-handled equipment is the best way to develop these muscles. Don't have this type of equipment? Just wrap a hand-towel around normal-sized equipment to make the handles extra thick!

 Thick-handled equipment also helps to correct strength imbalances. The technical term for this is "bilateral deficit," which means that everyone is slightly stronger on one side than the other.

 2. Experiment with food substitution. Protein is particularly important if you're doing strength exercises. Luckily, there are plenty of creative but easy ways to incorporate tasty protein sources into your diet. Haloumi cheese, for example, makes a great substitute for toast or pancakes, because it doesn't melt when you grill it. Just pop a slice under the grill for a few minutes until it begins to brown.

 3. Take out your body piercings. It may sound strange, but it's true! Body piercings can disrupt your body composition by affecting your internal energy flow. If you're measuring your body fat levels, make sure you remove any body piercings to get an accurate result.

 4. Use a stainless steel water bottle. Get yourself a good water bottle, preferably stainless steel, and a water filter. Not only is it healthier to drink from stainless steel, which is free from xenoestrogens, it's also more environmentally friendly.

 5. Try acupuncture before exercising. Acupuncture is a great way to activate your nervous system before a workout. It helps release chemicals in your muscles and central nervous system, which means you'll be able to train harder and ultimately see better results.

 For more healthy weight loss advice check out my weight loss ebooks – or for a more guided approach join my online weight loss program, Love Your Weight Loss. You’ll learn how to lose weight, love the process and most importantly, keep it off! Start a free trial today and lose weight online, now!

Are You Ready to Make Weight Control Second Nature?

Susan Burke March is a registered and licensed dietitian, who lives in scenic Flagler Beach, Fla. She is also the chief nutritionist for eDiets.com and the author of Making Weight Control Second Nature: Living Thin Naturally.

Susan’s book – written from the perspective of someone who has battled weight issues – has made quite an impression on a lot of overweight and frustrated women and men. The book was published in 2009 yet popped up on a “top 10 dieting books” list that appeared this year on FoxNews.com.

Since we have easy access to Susan and her sage advice, we tossed together this little interview that could make a big difference for you as diet resolution season fast approaches.

Check out Susan’s advice, then please be sure to grab your copy of this proven approach for living thin, naturally.

To what do you attribute the ongoing success of your book, Making Weight Control Second Nature: Living Thin Naturally?

Among the hundreds of diet books to choose from, I think my book is unique because it’s written from my personal experience – and it shares the successes of other experts and colleagues who have found a way to stay thin naturally.

Of course, there’s nothing natural about staying thin in our environment! In my book I share with the readers the challenges and pitfalls common to most people who struggle to maintain their weight. My book is designed to help you understand your own personal challenges that made you overweight to begin with. It’s packed with information that each reader can personalize to suit his or her lifestyle, budget and tastes.  Such a personalized plan allows you to stay thin, deliberately!

Tell our readers what they can expect from this great book?

Get ready! I managed to compress an encyclopedia of information into an easy to read and digest book of ordinary size.  First, we examine attitudes about weight loss and lifestyle, and from there I cover the what, why, and how of weight control. This includes just about everything that matters when it comes to taking control of your food – shopping, cooking, and dining out – plus strategies to work activity into your busy life.

You're very open about your own struggles with weight. How have you managed to stay the course so many years after you "wised up" about healthy eating?

That is exactly the point of my book. I’m no more “naturally thin” than anyone else. So many people think of diet as something temporary. When they return to the way they ate and lived before they dieted it’s typical to regain all the weight they lost – and then some. Permanent weight loss happens only when you permanently change your lifestyle – and that’s what I share in my book. I think this explains why my book has been so popular.  When you give up the old behaviors that made you overweight, and turn new behaviors into something you do without even thinking about it, it makes healthy living second nature.

You're known for your motto "all diets work" so why should we follow the eDiets plans rather than the hottest fad diet to hit the book shelves?

My motto is, “All diets work!” because going on a diet means changing from your usual to something more healthful – with calories appropriate to your unique needs. The first step is to find the plan that most closely suits your own lifestyle and preferences. What’s great about eDiets is that it’s the place to go to find the best diet built for you.

What's your advice for the woman (or man) who feels they are just too busy and overwhelmed to stick with a healthy lifestyle?

So many of us have incredibly busy schedules that make it hard to keep up with work, school, kids, parents, commuting, etc.!  Some of the tools we’ve incorporated into our daily lives make planning and eating healthy meals easier than ever. On eDiets, when you sign up for your meal plan, it takes just a few minutes to review and make any changes you want for your week – and then print out your shopping list or use your smartphone when you go shopping.

My book is a great companion piece to an eDiets eating plan. It provides some great information about eating simply but well – and it has a complete dining out guide. It’ll help you learn the lingo about menu reading and master some simple strategies for quick but tasty meals and snacks. Trust me, a healthier lifestyle gets easier the more you live it.

To get your copy of Susan’s insightful book, Making Weight Control Second Nature: Living Thin Naturally, Simply click the hyperlinked title.

Health Expert Compares Obesity To Cholera

While speaking at a recent gathering of the nation’s top experts on obesity, the New York City Health Commissioner delivered a sobering message by comparing obesity to cholera, a deadly disease that still rages around the world but last ravaged America a century ago.

I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Tom Farley speak at Obesity Week 2013 which was held Nov. 11-16 in Atlanta, Ga. After detailing the ongoing efforts of New York City to fight obesity on all fronts, Dr. Farley was given a standing ovation by a packed room of nearly 4,000 obesity researchers, bariatric surgeons, nutritionists and other allied health professionals.

The crowd was comprised of front-line fighters who are committed to treating obesity as a disease.

As far back as 2001, when he was a professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health, Dr. Farley was comparing obesity to cholera. He noted that 150 years ago Americans were dying in enormous numbers from diseases associated with poor living conditions – overcrowding, dirty water and unsafe food. Back then, the government said that poor immigrants – the ones most likely to get sick and die – were “intemperate” and of “poor moral fiber” because they didn’t practice better personal hygiene.

In a sense, health officials were blaming the victims for their own demise.

As Farley points out, obesity is an environmental disease much like cholera, an infectious disease that can cause severe diarrhea, dehydration and death. People no more want to be obese than they want to die of cholera – or any other preventable disease for that matter.

But our environment is so polluted with advertising for fast, cheap, high-calorie food that it’s hard for the average Joe or Jane to avoid contamination. Studies show that our food choices are affected, usually negatively, by advertising.

Farley noted that by the mid 1800s, the British government realized that everyone was “equal” in terms of susceptibility to disease. Even if people were rich enough to live in nice houses and drink fresh water, the entire society was impacted by disease and epidemics. By governing responsibly and comprehensively – and by guaranteeing fresh water and adequate housing – they dramatically lowered the rate of infection and mortality.

Farley quoted British preventative medicine expert Geoffrey Rose, who said, “The great public health reforms of the 19th century which led to such dramatic improvements were undertaken for people, rather than by people.”

Admittedly it’s hard to combat the onslaught of advertising surrounding food and drink. U.S. News Health noted that junk food makers spend billions advertising their unhealthy foods to children – as much as $10 billion a year. Most ads tout unhealthy products that are high in calories, sugar, fat, and sodium. These “bad foods” often feature cartoon characters or product giveaways that are enticing to our kids.

We’re not kidding when we say the average child will view about 5,500 food commercials a year. That breaks down to about 15 slick ads a day.

These commercials often promote high-sugar breakfast cereals, fast food, soft drinks, candy and snacks, according to the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. Compare that to the fewer than 100 TV ads per year kids see for healthy foods like fruits, veggies and bottled water.

Advertising could be viewed as a negative or a positive, too.  But the scale is definitely tilted in the wrong direction!

These Top 7 Quick Weight Loss Tips

Will Help You Lose Weight FAST!

Here are the top 7 quick weight loss tips that I recommend people use when they want to lose weight fast! These are some of the most effective fat-burning and weight-loss principles you can use! By using these principles consistently, you will be amazed at how quickly you can lose weight and get an amazing body.

Bodybuilders and fitness competitors use these quick weight loss tips in order to prepare for competitions. It helps them lose weight quickly as well as lose the last few kilos of body fat, which are often extremely hard to get off!

Quick Weight Loss Tip 1:
Consume 5-6 small meals a day.

Having 5 or 6 small meals a day is a great way to boost your metabolism, help maintain your muscle mass and increase your body's fat burning ability. However, in saying that, there is no solid research backing up these benefits so at this stage the concept of having small, frequent meals is just a theory only. This is discussed in more detail in the article titled, 'Is Eating 5 or 6 Small Meals a Day Better For Fat Loss Compared to 3 Meals?'

I will admit though, having 5 or 6 small meals a day may not be the best way to go for everyone. For example, if you currently have only 1 or 2 meals a day and need to lose some weight, jumping straight to 5 or 6 meals a day is likely to cause you to gain weight due to the increased food intake unless the size of the meals is really small!

Quick Weight Loss Tip 1: Consume 5-6 small meals a day
It constantly amazes me how many people complain that they're overweight but they only have 1 or 2 meals a day. Having a low meal frequency means that your body is constantly in a 'self-preservation' mode (also known as the 'Anti-Starvation Response'). This occurs because the body thinks it is being starved so it reacts by slowing the metabolism down in order to preserve energy. It also increases appetite and increases the activity of fat-storing enzymes.

More frequent meals is much better from a metabolism-boosting and fat-burning perspective.

Even though having the 5 or 6 meals is great, the substantially reduced size of the meals makes the concept impractical for people with a sluggish metabolism. Perhaps a better way to go may be to simply have 3 meals a day instead of 1 or 2 and then as your metabolism speeds up and your appetite increases, slowly increase your meal frequency.

For example, you may want to have 3 meals a day for 4-6 weeks and then, and you start feeling hungrier, increase your meal frequency to 4 meals a day. Again, with a boost in your metabolism and increase in appetite, you may need to add another meal to your daily intake. Keep in mind though that every time you add a meal you should slightly reduce the size of the other meals in order to accommodate for the increased food (calorie) intake.

Overall, 5 or 6 small meals a day is a great goal to aim for when it comes to your meal frequency.

As far as the types of meals to have when you're consuming 5 or 6 small meals a day in order to lose weight quickly, then you are best to follow a low carbohydrate, low allergen, detox diet. Admittedly, this type of nutritional plan is a little hard to stick to long term and I am especially not a fan of low carb diets as a general rule, but the nutritional plan I suggest is certainly not your typical low carb diet. It is simply slightly lower in carbs compared to the protein component.

Getting your nutritional habits right really is the foundation of the quick weight loss tips. Since your body is made from the food you eat, it simply makes sense that losing weight quickly comes from eating correctly.


Quick Weight Loss Tip 2:
Reduce your daily consumption of high-density carbohydrates.

High-density carbohydrates include foods like bread, pasta, rice and cereals. They tend to cause a rapid rise in blood glucose levels, which invokes the release of insulin from the pancreas. This then stores the glucose. Since the body has a limited capacity for storing glucose, once the liver and muscle stores of glycogen are full the rest gets stored as body fat.

To make matters worse, insulin also stops the body from mobilising and utilising fat as a fuel source; it stops fat burning in its tracks!

in order to burn fat and lose weight effectively, it is essential that you keep insulin secretion as low as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to simply reduce your intake of high-density carbohydrates. There's no need to cut them out altogether, just reduce your intake of them to around 1 or 2 serves a day.

Many low-carb diets suggest cutting them out of your diet entirely but this is not necessary if you want to lose weight and keep it off long term. It is a much more sustainable lifestyle if you allow yourself 1 or 2 serves a day. However, as a part of the quick weight loss tips, you may want to only have rice or oats as your source of high-density carb simply because grain-based sources of carbs may cause an allergic reaction in some people, which results in 'Silent Inflammation' in the body. This may cause your body to retain fluid and therefore stop you from losing weight.

For best results you should emphasise more of the low-density carbs like, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, capsicum, etc. and less of the medium and high-density carbs.

For a comprehensive list of carbohydrate sources in the Macronutrient Table, see pages 136-138 of my e-book, Look Good Feel Great!

Quick Weight Loss Tip 3:
Have a portion of protein with every meal.

Protein is the most important macronutrient because it makes up a component of every cell in our body. Also, since our body is constantly building up and breaking down tissue all day long; it is a dynamic structure, it simply makes sense to ensure that each meal we consume contains a portion of it.

A good analogy to use is a bath of water. Imagine that the tap in the bath is turned on and water flows into it, whilst at the other end the plug is pulled out and water flows out. Even though the water level may not change much, 'new' water molecules enter the bath and 'old' water molecules leave the bath constantly.

Our body is just like the bath. If it breaks down (water leaving the bath) more tissue than it builds up (water entering the bath), then it is said to be in a catabolic state. A catabolic state results in a loss of muscle and therefore a reduction in metabolic rate.

Consuming some protein every 2-3 hours during the day ensures the body has a constant supply of amino acids, which can be used for building body tissue. By doing so, you prevent your body from going into a catabolic state. You also encourage your body to build tissue (anabolic state), which helps to keep your metabolism elevated.

It is actually quite common for people to only have carbohydrate in a meal. For example, they may have a piece of fruit (carbohydrate) for their mid-morning and/ or their mid-afternoon meals. As a result of them not consuming any protein with these meals, their body will still go into a catabolic state since it hasn't received any tissue-building amino acids from protein.

One of the easiest ways to get at least some protein in each of your meals throughout the day is to ensure you consume a small portion of protein as a whole food in your main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and also have a protein shakes for your mid-morning or mid-afternoon meals. If you would like to find out more about how to select the best protein powder for you to use, please read: Best Protein Powder.


Quick Weight Loss Tip 4:
Perform at least 30 minutes of cardiorespiratory (aerobic) exercise twice a day.

Yes, twice a day! Unfortunately, if you're really serious about losing weight quickly then you must be willing to incorporate the most effective principles into your lifestyle and exercising twice a day is certainly one of those!

Quick Weight Loss Tip 4: Perform at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise twice a day
Also, it is important to understand the difference between exercise and activity. Activity involves body movement, i.e. taking the dog for a leisurely walk, walking around a shopping centre, playing lawn bowls, gardening, etc. Exercise on the other hand, involves rigorous body movements, which results in your heart rate increasing, your breathing rate increasing, your face going red and you start sweating! They are vastly different. Therefore, the two exercise session a day must be exercise not simply activity.

Here are some examples of aerobic exercise: brisk walking, cycling (on a stationary bike is fine), swimming, rowing, stepper, cross-trainer, aerobic classes, boxing, etc. Regular exercise is second only to nutrition when it comes to its importance with regards to the quick weight loss tips.


Quick Weight Loss Tip 5:
Perform a resistance (weight) training workout at least twice a week (ideally four times a week).

Weight training is such an important part of any weight-loss program. Unfortunately though, many people neglect this component under the mistaken belief that they will put on weight or have their muscles grow too big!

When your primary goal is to lose weight, weight training is beneficial in helping you preserve your muscle mass as you lose weight. This is important because muscle is one of the most metabolically-active tissues in the body, which means it burns up a lot of energy, including fat.

If you don't perform any resistance training exercise as you lose weight your body will lose both fat and muscle. In fact, up to half of the weight you lose can come from muscle tissue! A loss of muscle means that your metabolism will slow down substantially, making further weight loss more difficult.

By incorporating weights into your regular exercise program you will be able to maintain your muscle mass, keep your metabolism elevated and will be able to burn off body fat faster. Best of all, you only need to perform 2 30-minute sessions a week in order to obtain the muscle-preserving benefits it offers.


Quick Weight Loss Tip 6:
Use a fat burning supplement.

Fat burning supplements are generally capsules containing a range of thermogenic herbs, which can assist your weight-loss/ fat-burning efforts by speeding up your metabolism, giving you an energy boost and by forcing your fat cell to release stored fat into the blood stream, which the body can use as a fuel source.

The top fat burners on the market can definitely help you lose weight faster but it is important to keep in mind that they're definitely not 'magic pills'! They can't make up for poor eating habits or a wayward lifestyle. They are simply 'weight-loss catalysts'. Nevertheless, they are still one of the most important quick weight loss tips.

Most fat burners (also known as thermogenics) contain a range of thermogeinc herbs such as, guarana or coffee arabica, green tea and citrus aurantium. In order to be effective, it's important that these ingredients are provided in therapeutic dosages.

XLR8 Thermogenic by BCN is an example of an effective thermogenic fat burner. It contains a combination of powerful herbs all selected based on their ability to help boost your metabolism, burn body fat and give you an energy boost.

For best results, take 1-2 capsules twice a day; once in the morning prior to your morning exercise session and once with your lunch. It is best not to take fat burners later than 4:00pm in the afternoon because they may keep you awake at night.

Always seek your doctor's approval first before using fat burners.


Quick Weight Loss Tip 7:
Don't eat or drink anything (except water) for 20-30 minutes after every exercise session.

The combination of exercise and thermogenics means that your metabolism remains elevated for quite a while after the completion of the exercise session. This means that your body will keep burning fuel (including fat) during the 'post-exercise window'.

Exercise causes the body's carbohydrate stores (muscle and liver glycogen and blood glucose) to become depleted. This means that after exercise the body will use a greater proportion of fat as a fuel source. This is also why morning exercise is so effective. Since the body is already in a mildly depleted state in the morning (after sleeping and fasting for the previous 6-8 hours), exercise before breakfast, especially if a thermogenic fat burner is used, will definitely promote greater fat burning.

If you consume a meal immediately after an exercise session, your blood sugar level will rise. This induces insulin secretion from the pancreas, which promotes the storage of carbohydrate, fat and other nutrients in the body but it also stops the body from burning fat. This is why it is beneficial to wait 20-30 minutes after exercise before having your next meal. However, don't wait longer than that though because cortisol will rise and that will promote muscle breakdown, which will slow your metabolism down.

This is one of the most simple but effective quick weight loss tips.

Overall, these top 7 quick weight loss tips will help you achieve your weight-loss goal in record time! Use them and then prepare to watch your body transform in record time!

10 Summer Foods for Weight Loss

Strawberries

Who can resist a bowl of juicy red berries? Pop ’em freely, because they’re the perfect summer snack: filling, light on calories and laden with nutrients from omega 3 fats to cancer-fighting polyphenols.  “Just half a cup of strawberries provides over 70 percent of your daily Vitamin C, plus fiber and an array of antioxidants,” says weight-loss coach Jackie Keller.

Cherries
Sweet, juicy cherries contain just 87 calories per cup -- and if you enjoy them three times weekly in place of heavier desserts, you could shed up to five pounds this summer alone, say researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles. Bonus: Cherries are loaded with anthocyanins -- antioxidants that University of Nebraska researchers say can help kill cancer cells and lower your liver’s production of artery-clogging cholesterol by as much as 10 percent.

Plums
"Whether eaten whole, dried or pureed into sauces, plums are low in calories and a good source of both dietary fibers and Vitamin C,” says Keller. Dried plums (also known as prunes) are the perfect grab-and-go healthy snack, and they make a rich, sweet dessert when stewed into compote. Plus, they can help suppress appetite thanks to their low glycemic load.

Squash
From pattypan to zucchini, summer squash delivers major vitamins and nutrients (including magnesium, potassium and copper), to the tune of a mere 80 calories per half cup. With its bright colors and earthy flavor, squash makes the perfect side dish to any meal. On BBQ days, toss zucchini on the grill.

Bell Peppers
“Sweet red peppers are such a good source of beta carotene, and top the charts of vegetables for that important antioxidant,” says Keller. “Green bell peppers also contain generous amounts of Vitamin C.” Peppers, like zucchini, grill up beautifully…for a rich, colorful side dish that fills you up on just a few calories.

Mangoes
Dense with antioxidants -- plus protein and omega 3 fats -- mangoes are a delicious, low-calorie way to bulk up meals with exotic flavor, ensuring "healthy" fare doesn’t fall into a rut. Toss on top of oatmeal or yogurt, in salads and even in stir-fries.

Parsley
This often-overlooked herb is packed with slimming potential. According to USDA researchers, each cup contains 984 micrograms of vitamin K -- a nutrient that prevents fluid retention and flushes out bloat, helping women shed three pounds of excess water weight if they serve it up daily. Use parsley to add a seasonal flare to salads, and add it to dressings, mayonnaise, omelettes, rice and potato dishes, soups, burgers and other main course meals to balance and brighten their natural flavors.

Beets
“One of the real gems found in beets is the B vitamin folate,” a key nutrient for women, says Keller. “Beets help protect against heart disease, birth defects and certain cancers, especially colon cancer.” Naturally sweet and agreeably buttery, beets can turn a salad into something special without adding lots of calories.

Figs
“If Mother Nature had a vote for her ultimate superfruit, figs would be it,” says Dr. Paul Gross, author of Superfruits. And why not? They pack fiber, potassium, folate and vitamins for heart health into one incredibly sweet, low-cal fruit. Having been around for 6,000 years, figs might have even kept Cleopatra trim. For a snack that sticks with you, try the black mission figs -- the seeds release even more nutrients and omega fats then the flesh itself.

Blackberries
The superstars of the slimming fruits, blackberries contain just 62 calories per cup, they’re packed with six grams of appetite-taming fiber, plus they’re low in sugar, fat-free and packed with berry flavor! Even better, they’re a great source of manganese -- a tough-to-find mineral that helps muscle cells soak up and burn fats -- all-told, helping women shed up to 14 pounds per year, if they enjoy one cup daily, say University of Maryland researchers. Bonus: Tufts University research shows that blackberries contain 220 percent more cancer-fighting antioxidants than even broccoli!